In many ways the 3rd Ashes Test at the WACA in Perth was one of the most remarkable I've ever seen, or rather listened to--I was listening over the Net. Australia won by 206 runs giving them an unbeatable margin in the 2006 Ashes series that will see them regain the Ashes after losing them 400 odd days ago in their tour of England. But that only tells a tiny part of the story. Again, I know you don't care, but I do, so please, bear with me.

Australia were in to bat first, which is normally a recipe for success, but they only managed 244, a minimal total for a team accustomed to putting up 500 for the first innings. The Aussies scored 602 and 513 in the first two Tests respectively on the way to victory. So the paltry 244 gave the tourists hope that they could stave off the inevitable. Hussy top scored with 74 but didn't get much help from his teammates as Panesar and Harmison took 9 wickets between them. Things were looking up for England. That is, until they went into bat and contrived to give the game away.

England's response of 215 wouldn't be remarkable except for the final pair. Pietersen put on a stalwart 70 but when his wicket fell, England were 9 for 175 facing a considerable 1st innings deficit and predictable loss of the Ashes. Then 11th man Monty Panesar strode to the wicket and the unlikely pairing of Monty and Harmison put on 40 runs for the final wicket, easily the largest partnership of the innings, something I don't believe I have ever seen. So England could have folded up their tent and gone home, but they were putting up a fight and by the time innings finished they found themselves behind by on 29 runs, a virtual tie. Then everything went wrong

Aussies roared back into form in the second innings, putting up a massive 527 for 5 declared, an astonishing 2nd innings total more than doubling the output of the previous innings. Gilchrst, Clarke and Hussy all put centuries while Hatden added 92. The total put England in serious jeopardy. The declaration left England 6+ sessions to score the runs, more than enough time, but England lacks the firepower to muster such a large total. Defending for more than 8 hours to hope for a draw with Shane Warne bearing down on them was always going to be an impossible task.

You have to put Australia's 2nd innings in context. Of the course of the history of cricket, the natural progression is for innings totals to decrease in the 2nd innings. Why? Well because the wicket, the playing surface tends to deteriorate over the course of the match which gives the bowling side a huge advantage. Plus the pressure of a chase makes it difficult for a trailing team to sustain the concentration needed over a long time to produce the runs while not losing wickets. This is why the record second innings chase is somewhere in the mid 300s. so Australia's 527, while not in the chase, is still an astounding total.

Part of that total including the rather brisk work of wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist who put up his century for a mere 57 balls, only the second fastest ton in the history of Test cricket, a history that goes back more than 100 years.

Gilchrist barely missed the world record of 56 balls set by scintillating West Indian Viv Richards against England at St. Johns in 1985-86. He also broke the record for the most runs in a six-ball over in an Ashes series when he plundered 24 off Monty Panesar. Simply astounding.

So England were looking up at an almost insurmountable total. The first innings lead of 29 had been augmented with 527 more runs leaving England needing more than 550 runs for victory and to stave of the loss of the Ashes for another Test. Everyone, including me, suspected England would fold quietly. And our thoughts were ratified when Strauss was adjudged out LBW for a duck to Brett Lee in the first over. At stumps on Day 3, they were 1/19 with 6 sessions remaining. But in the morning, Cook and Bell put on 170 for the 2nd wicket and when Bell finally succumbed to Shane Warne, amazingly England were 1/170, still needing a massive total, but not without hope, at least for a draw.

Collingwood was only able to manage 15 for the 3rd wicket, but the arrival of Pieterson brought with it the idea that England could hang on. They managed to put so, putting on runs at a slow but steady rate, frustrating the Aussies until the final handful of overs when Cook and night watchman Hoggard fell in quick succession. England finished day 4 at 5 for 265 which must have been incredibly disheartening since they easily could have been 3 for 265 which would have made all the difference. So needing just under 300 runs, it never was going to be an easy task, but it would have been far more realistic with 7 wickets in hand instead of just 5. A fresh Cook alongside a stalwart Pieterson would have been an imposing force and England, while daring to dream for victory, could easily sniff a draw.

But it wasn't to be. With only 5 wickets in hand, the English tail didn't put up the fight of the first innings losing Jones, Harmison, Mahmood and Panesar for the addition of only 5 runs while Pieterson looked on hopelessly from the non-strikers end as the Ashes melted away.

The Aussies celebrated the "Return of the Urn" vigorously, as you would expect and now we're onto the traditional Boxing Day Test in Melbourne at the MCG. Sadly, it won't have any meaning as far as the series is concerned, but it's always a great event for me and brings a flood of memories of my time in Melbourne. I went to the Boxing Day Test in 1993 against South Africa. It was Springboks first post Apartheid tour of Australia, but the Test was a wash and the typically horrendous Melbourne weather pissed down on the MCG and erased the first two days. I went on the 3rd day and saw Mark Waugh hit a 6, which was the highlight of my short-lived cricket watching experience. There might have been a few hundred fans in a stadium that easily holds 95,000. It was eerie.

*A day or two late, hopefully not a dollar short